1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chemical process for the destruction or consumption of halogenated organic materials and, more especially, chlorinated aromatic materials such as, for example, PCBs (polychlorobiphenyls), possibly admixed with unchlorinated organic species.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The removal of PCBs present in dielectric transformer oils or lubricating oils by extraction with methanol has already been proposed to this art (U.S. Pat. No. 4,387,018). The methanol is then separated from the PCBs by distillation and is then recycled. This process enables the quantity of PCB to be reduced by 70%. European Patent Ep 99,951 proposes to treat similar products with sodium dispersed as particles larger than 10 .mu.m. European Patent Application EP 107,404 describes the treatment of a transformer oil containing 652 ppm of PCB with sodium salts of a polyethylene glycol.
The disadvantage of these processes is that they require separations and recycling operations or the handling of sodium. European Patent Application EP 21,294 describes the destruction of dioxins, in particular chlorinated anisoles containing 39.7 ppm of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, by reacting these compounds under pressure with sodium methylate in methanol at 160.degree. C. Moreover, a paper by Gyula Pfeifer and Terez Flora in the Hungarian journal, Magy. Kem. Folyoirat, 71, (8), 343-6 (1965) explains that sodium methylate can begin to decompose between 120.degree. and 140.degree. C.